The King's Speech

The King’s Speech - 118 min - R

This story is about King George vI (Collin Firth) and his struggle with a stammer, as an heir to the throne of Great Britton he had duties that required him to speak in public. The movie follows the history of how he came to be king after his father King George V (Michael Gambon) dies and his brother, King Edward VIII (Guy Peirce) proves to be unworthy, he is faced with the fact that he has to overcome his speech impediments to be a king. He is supported by his Wife Queen Elisabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) and his speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) to overcome the problems surrounding his speech and take the mantle of King.

I loved this movie; very few movies have even gotten me emotionally bought into the characters in the first few moments of the movie. The cast was wonderful, there was not a single miss on casting, and all players did an outstanding job of representing the people they were playing. The movie transported me to that time in history; I loved the period and the setting. The relationship played by Collin and Geoffrey in forging a friendship is a very captivating element to the story. I enjoyed the dynamic of the two people from different worlds finding a connection. I have liked the roles that Helena has done in the past but never have I ever fallen in love with her characters until now. Her portrayal of Queen Elisabeth is one of love and support for her husband and still an air of royalty. Guy did a wonderful job as King Edward again stellar performance. I don’t know if this movie was historically accurate, but it does make me want to go and read more about that time in Britton’s history.

Usually when I see a movie I try and balance the reviews by findings some good elements to a movie that is bad and I find that hard sometimes. I think as I start this reviewer process I see that the reverse is equally if not harder. I am trying to find some point in the film that I did not care for or for missed opportunities the film maker made, anything to help the overall movie making process for future movie makers. This is my main goal with my blog. A Movie like this comes along and performs flawlessly. I have no notes on how to make this a better movie. The only think I would say to movie makers in the future is; use this as a model, look at these elements to incorporate in to your movies.

To the technical aspects of this film, I think the Art director and the costume team did superb in taking us back to that time in history. The Camera crew did an excellent job of maximizing the shots to increase tension and add anxiety. I find it interesting that I was more engaged with this movie that had no explosions or super big effects, but a simple human story shot in such a way to make us feel the pressure and anxiety of the characters. Tom Hooper’s resume has many Television productions but only a few other films. One of his other movie is The Damned United another period piece about interesting characters and lives and relationships. He also made Red Dust. With the success of this film I am going to be looking for his name in the future. Some movies are ones that are designed for the big screen, lot of effects, explosions, big action and fantastic effects which lend themselves to the big screen. This movie has none of those but it bloody well deserves to be seen on one based on the story alone. LONG LIVE THE KING!